So I’ve been doing this thing since last season and I’ve been having a blast doing it. I’ve called it yeet-grom-do (like taek-won-do but with more bike and more yeet) because someone said it and it stuck. Kinda like a sendup to motojitsu (which is a fun practice system but I have no use for half the things Greg does). This is basically a way to make parking lot practice not suck for me. But this isn’t for everyone and I’ll get into that as well.
If you wanna see what it looks like, check out my IG feed
Here’s How:
Grab a bunch of cones. Or tennis balls cut in half. Or whatever the hell else you have laying around that isn’t gonna migrate around the parking lot with wind and isn’t gonna crash you if you run it over. Full water bottles work in a pinch.
Find a parking lot where you’re allowed to be. Doesn’t have to be big but should have decent pavement so you don’t crash as much.
Throw your cones in arbitrary directions with arbitrary strength. Make some of them left hand turns and make some of them rights. I’ll use double cones for one direction so I don’t have to think too hard.
Put on the best gear you own. Seriously. None of this is a good idea without a full set of moto gear preferably leather and preferably with knee pucks. With gear screwing this up is funny. With jeans/sneakers this will be a guaranteed injury.
Ride It! If it’s too easy, make the turns harder by moving cones past 90* from each other. If it’s too hard, give yourself a bit more space between the cones. This will be quite dependent on the bike (I can do much tighter courses on the grom than on the 919 or the sv) as well as skillset (as you get better at transitioning left to right you’ll find you can make the turns tighter and closer together).
More turns is better. More variety of turns is better (give yourself long sweepers, decreasing radiuses, etc.
Once you figure out a layout clockwise, try it counterclockwise for a complete mindfuck. It will flow completely differently. I’ve had layouts that were straight unrideable in one direction and a riot in the other.
Here’s Why:
Transitions transitions transitions. This makes you practice flopping left to right quickly and smoothly. And much more often than on tracks or roads.
Body position. Everyone loves that bp/knee down etc kind of learning because it’s flashy and showoffy. The cool thing with this is you get a lot of practice at it, and at very low speeds so not much risk of injury.
Vision. There’s no way to do this without aiming at the next cone. Or 2 turns up. Or at an arbitrary point a few feet away from a cone. You learn to find yourself reference points that work and how to adjust them so they work.
Line selection. Lots of corners means mistakes stack up on each other. You need to figure out the orientation of where you’re going and where you want to go. I’ve been thinking of it as “working backwards” from a corner. Figure out where I need to be for a turn. Figure out where I need to be at the previous turn to get it done. Figure out the turn before etc. This will likely pay huge dividends when you arrive at a new track and have to learn the line quickly, or on street riding since you have to figure out the corner quickly and decide on turnin, aim, etc.
Late turn-in. Like line selection, this is one of the things layouts like this emphasize. If you turn too early or don’t snap your bike over quickly, you’ll likely be pointed in the wrong direction and end up having to work much harder for the next turn.
Throttle control. Can’t do this if you’re not smooth. The speeds are too low, so choppy throttle will amplify errors.
Braking. If you want to do this the easy way, keep a steady throttle the whole way around. If you want to make this harder, actually work on increasing speed through corners and then braking for the next.
Relaxation. Quick directional changes, throttle control, and vision and everything else don’t work well if you’re tense. This forces you to relax or fail.
Traction. Especially if you’re less than smooth, this is a very high grip activity, so you do need to manage the bike’s traction quite a bit.
Fun! Because every time I do this, it’s a different layout and different challenge. And because it’s a bit nutty to do this on the street and I can’t hit a track every week. And because it’s always going to be hard enough to challenge you.
Here’s Why NOT TO:
Experience. If you’re still dealing with bike control etc. this may be a bit of a stretch for you. Not that you wont be able to, but that you’ll be doing it tense and probably doing the “low speed maneuvers” style with counterweighting etc. and not really get the same experience. You will be learning, but likely not the same things I am.
Racing. If you think this is a race, you're gonna find the ground. Really not a good idea to turn it into one. Yes, it's possible to pass a buddy in the middle of this layout. No, it's not a good idea at all.
Shiny bikes. This is not a 0-risk activity. This is not even a low-risk activity. This is something where I regularly clunk bikes on the ground (and pretty much the only way Im ok with hitting the ground). A little bit of sand or too cold of a pavement is enough to wash me out. Yes I’m laughing my ass off and picking the bike up and continuing where I left off since a crash doing this is usually like a driveway tipover, but you absolutely can and will scratch the bike.
Crappy bikes. Yes, you can do this on anything (including eliminator 125s, zx14s, and dressers lulz) BUT if you don’t have good tires, throttle, etc. you’re going to find the ground rather than gains.
Squid gear. Remember how I said this is safe and low-risk? That doesn’t apply when you don’t have good gear. Not to preach, but leather is pretty much a must (or you’ll be buying replacement textile gear often)
Here's Who:
This activity is much better suited to experienced riders with some track experience and courses under their belt. Or mini riders who dont give a crap hehe.